1The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see . 2O Jehovah , how long shall I cry , and thou wilt not hear ? I cry out unto thee of violence , and thou wilt not save . 3Why dost thou show me iniquity , and look upon perverseness ? for destruction and violence are before me ; and there is strife , and contention riseth up . 4Therefore the law is slacked , and justice doth never go forth ; for the wicked doth compass about the righteous ; therefore justice goeth forth perverted .
God's Response
5Behold ye among the nations , and look , and wonder marvellously ; for I am working a work in your days , which ye will not believe though it be told you . 6For , lo , I raise up the Chaldeans , that bitter and hasty nation , that march through the breadth of the earth, to possess dwelling-places that are not theirs. 7They are terrible and dreadful ; their judgment and their dignity proceed from themselves. 8Their horses also are swifter than leopards , and are more fierce than the evening wolves ; and their horsemen press proudly on : yea, their horsemen come from far ; they fly as an eagle that hasteth to devour. 9They come all of them for violence ; the set of their faces is forwards; and they gather captives as the sand . 10Yea, he scoffeth at kings , and princes are a derision unto him ; he derideth every stronghold; for he heapeth up dust , and taketh it . 11Then shall he sweep by as a wind , and shall pass over , and be guilty, even he whose might is his god.
The Prophet's Second Complaint
12Art not thou from everlasting , O Jehovah my God , my Holy One ? we shall not die . O Jehovah , thou hast ordained him for judgment ; and thou , O Rock , hast established him for correction . 13Thou that art of purer eyes than to behold evil , and that canst not look on perverseness , wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy peace when the wicked swalloweth up the man that is more righteous than he ; 14and makest men as the fishes of the sea , as the creeping things , that have no ruler over them ? 15He taketh up all of them with the angle , he catcheth them in his net , and gathereth them in his drag : therefore he rejoiceth and is glad . 16Therefore he sacrificeth unto his net , and burneth incense unto his drag ; because by them his portion is fat , and his food plenteous . 17Shall he therefore empty his net , and spare not to slay the nations continually ?